Bob Capron has been doing the Shoshone River fish rescue with the East Yellowstone Chapter of Trout Unlimited out of Cody, Wyoming, for 22 years. TU members and volunteers from the community gather each fall to net native Yellowstone cutthroat and other nonnative cutthroat, as well as brown and rainbow trout. An average of 5,000 to 6,000 fish are saved annually from irrigation ditches in the Bighorn Basin. The fish end up in the ditches and would perish each fall when the canals go dry or freeze. For those wondering, the largest fish to show up was a 29-inch brown. All fish are returned to the section of the Shoshone River where the canal originated.

Paul Bruchez is a fifth-generation rancher whose family raises cattle in the upper reaches of the Colorado River near Kremmling, Colorado, where he also runs a private fly-fishing guide service.“A River’s Reckoning” tells the story of Paul’s awakening to the importance of river conservation and the legacy of his family’s ranch when drought and urban water diversions deplete the Colorado River, threatening the ranch’s operations. When Art Bruchez, the family patriarch, is diagnosed with cancer, Paul and his younger brother Doug are forced to step in and take over.

The steelhead and salmon runs of northern California are legendary. However, these runs are now a fraction of their former numbers. Drought, development, dams, and water diversions have all contributed to reducing populations and angling opportunities, especially in coastal streams north of San Francisco -- a region often referred to as the Lost Coast. Yet good fish habitat remains here, and some rivers continue to offer premier angling opportunities for wild steelhead. A coalition of sportsmen groups, conservation organizations, business and property owners, fisheries scientists, tribes, and community members along the Lost Coast has come together around a landmark proposal: to protect and restore the last, best wild steelhead and salmon habitat on public lands in Trinity, Humboldt, Del Norte, and Mendocino counties. The clean, cold water that flows from these lands and the sporting assets they provide are a key part of California’s unique outdoor heritage. Join us in this movement today, to protect and improve the best of what’s left for Lost Coast steelhead and salmon.